Shattered Trust

The Interrogation

Elena clenched her body as the car with intent raced through the black streets. She tried to understand what was going on, but was too terrified. The men who had grabbed her sat quietly, and their faces showed no emotion.

“Where are you taking me?” Elena asked, fear creeping through her veins.

The man next to her in the passenger seat looked her in the eye and replied calmly, but his voice was frigid. “Soon you will know.”

Elena's mind raced. That is why she had to keep her wits about her and come up with an escape plan. She looked at the door handle, then shift her eyes to the man sitting beside her; the man looked at her and shook his head. “Don’t even think about it.”

The car came to a halt alongside an old factory building that appeared to be long empty. The men pulled Elena out and brought her in. It was forbidden for anyone to turn the light on, so the one, rather old and shaky, bulb was the only source of light and it flickered constantly.

They prodded her into a chair, and then they secured her hands at the elbow and bound her wrists with some sort of cable. The ropes were tight and Elena could not break free, and so she fought. As for now, all she could do was to try to look for anything and everything that she could get her hands on to free herself from the shackles that bound her.

A door freshly squeaked and a man-dark, stocky, and broad-shouldered-entered the room. Victor Blackwood. He got closer up to her, glaring her down with both humor and danger in his eyes.

“Elena Carter,” he said, and his voice sounded so calm, however murderous as it could get. “Oh, I've heard so much about you.”

Elena glared at him. “Come on, Victor. Let me go, empty threats will not help you here.”

Victor chuckled. “Oh, but I already have,” he said frankly, his voice rising in anger that was easily directed at Elena. “You should have stayed out of my business, Elena. You have no idea how deep you are in it.”

Elena's mind raced. She needed to contain the situation; the simplest and easiest way was to buy some time.

Looking into her eyes, Victor decided to bring it in close, speaking softly. “This is a punishable offense and if you are caught again, then you are going to have a serious problem”. “What I really need is what you know who you are working with, and more significantly, where the proof is.”

Elena's heart pounded. She could not turn her back on her team. “I don’t understand what you are talking about…”

Victor's smile faded. “Do not try to fool me, Elena”. I have a way of making people speak.

He winked at one of the men who joined his side and produced a syringe. Elena stared at him with a horrified look on her face. “No, please!”

Victor used his hand to pull her chin up, so she had to face him. “Say what I want to hear, and I will release you.”

Elena's mind raced. She had to think of something, anything, to stall for time. “Alright, I will tell you, but you have to promise me that you’ll let me go.”

Victor's eyes narrowed. “You want the privilege of quarreling with me?”

“I know things that can harm you.” “If you set me free, I will share these things with you.”

Victor looked at her for a moment, and nodded his head slowly. “Fine. Talk.”

Elena's mind raced. She had come up with something that could buy her enough time. “There is a safe house, in the city”. That's where we keep the evidence.

Finally, Victor perceived interest in his mind’s eye. “Where is it?”

Elena thought for a moment, then supplied him with the address. Perhaps she was taking a risk, but at the same time it would at least allow her to gain some more time.

Victor nodded to the man with the syringe. “Hey, take a look at the place”. “If you're being untruthful, you will suffer, Elena.”

The man got up and walked out of the room, while Victor turned back to her. “Now, we wait.”

At the same time, Liam and Maya were getting anxious and worried. Elena had not reported, and they could not get a hold of her. Liam walked in circles all around the room, blanking out and keeping his brain free for any idea.

“There is something wrong,” he stated as his voice shifted to a deep, serious tone. “Elena would not just disappear like this”. There must be a reason why she had to do it.

Maya just made a quick affirmative response in her mind that was filled with indications of all determined looks. We need to find her. It is probably that she is in danger.

Liam just received a call and was very eager to answer it. “Hello?”

“Liam, this is David”. Elena is in big trouble. Victor arranged for his men to kidnap her.

Liam's heart sank. “Where is she?”

“I don’t know,” answered David with visible sadness in his words. “But I have a lead” He said and gave me an address to an old warehouse on 5th Street.

Liam and Maya looked at each other. “We’re on our way,” said Liam before he ended the call.

Back at the warehouse, Elena could see the wheels turning in her head as she tried to formulate a plan. She needed to make an exit plan before Victor's men returned. She looked more closely around the room for any item that she could possibly use in her favor.

Victor looked at her with contentment on his face. “You know what, Elena”? I love that you are persistent but, you are out of my league.

Elena glared at him. “You won’t get away with this, Victor”. “People will unravel the truth.”

Victor chuckled. “The truth?”. “The truth is whatever I say it is. And right now, the truth is that you are in my domain, and nobody is ever going to get you away from me.”